Mode selection for the control of a plurality of work sheets in a billing machine



E. KINNEY ET AL May 20, 1969 M MODE SELECTION FOR THE] CONTROL OF APLURALITY OF WORK SHEETS IN A BII LING MACHINE Filed May 26 1967 R W. WM wmm K m FL v LO/ MVJ ATTORN EV United States Patent 3,444,977 MODESELECTION FOR THE CONTROL OF A PLURALITY OF WORK SHEETS IN A BILL- INGMACHINE Mel E. Kinney, Castro Valley, and Vito Viola, Oakland, Calif.,assignors to Friden, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 26, 1967,Ser. No. 641,607 Int. Cl. B41j 15/22, 13/074, 13/076 US. Cl. 197-129 1Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background The present inventionrelates to the control of the work sheets in billing and accountingmachines.

It is known to separately grip and control work sheets on two parts ofthe platen of a billing, or accounting, machine so that one part of theplaten may carry, for example, a continuous invoice form and the other aledger and journal, and to provide a front feed chute for the ledgersheet.

If is known to split a platen in two parts, one for the invoice and onefor the ledger and journal to permit different line-spacings for the twoforms. It is known to provide a feed control lever at each end of theplaten carriage, each actuating a stub shaft for applying and releasinga feed roll for its adjacent part of the platen, and each arranged, asit releases said feed roll, to also open the front feed chute, and toprovide a releasable connection between said stub shafts.

Summary It is an object of the present invention to permit manualselection by the operator between alternative modes of operation in abilling machine wherein the feed of forms on both parts of a platen maybe controlled by the platen as heretofore, or alternatively one form maybe controlled by the platen and the other left free for control by otherfeeding means.

Drawing These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from thefollowing description of a specific embodiment of the invention, takenin connection with the accompanying drawing wherein the single figure isa perspective view, partially exploded, of parts of the paper carriageand paper control mechanism of an accounting, or billing machineembodying the present invention.

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Description The drawing shows a part of the platen and formcontrollingstructures of the paper carriage of an accounting, or billing, machine.The cylindrical platen 8 consists of two sections, a right section 10controlled by a manual knob 12, and a left section 14 controlled by amanual knob 16. A clutch, not shown, that is manually controllable bythe operator, connects the two sections 10 and 14 for rotation inunison. A front feed chute 19 extends across the full length of theplaten 8, and includes a transparent plastic shield 20 and a frame 22which is controlled and partly supported by a lever 24, and which slideson a pin 23 carried by a stationary arm 21. A similar frame member,controlling lever, and pin (not shown) are provided at the right handend of the carriage. Control lever 24 is fixed to a rotatable controlshaft 26. Forward rotation of shaft 26, clockwise in the drawing, swingsthe lever 24, and with it the frame 22 and shield 20, forward to aso-called open position for permitting the easy insertion of a ledgersheet in a known manner. Front feed chute 19 is biased to its closedposition by a coil spring 28 acting on lever 24.

A pair of manually operable levers 30 and 32, at the two ends of theplaten carriage, control, among other things, the opening and closing ofthe front feed chute 19. Manual lever 30 has its hearing at 34. A slot36, forward of the bearing 34, engages a link 38 which is connected to alever 40 on the shaft 26, which controls the front feed chute 19. Thelever 32 is similar and is similarly connected by a link 39 to a lever41 on the shaft 26. The forward motion of either of the levers 30 or 32,through the corresponding link 38 or 39, rotates the shaft 26 forwardfor opening the chute 19. Slots, such as 36 or 37, permit either lever30 or 32 to remain in its normal position as shown, when the chute 19 isopened by operation of the other lever 30 or 32.

The left section 14 of the platen 8 is equipped with a set of feed rolls44 which are arranged to be held firmly against the platen section 14 sothat rotation of the platen section 14 will feed a form, such as aledger sheet, in a known manner. Specifically, the feed rolls 44 arepart of a structure that includes the sheet-metal, paper table 46 andalso cam-following rollers 48 that ride on cams 50 on a shaft 52.Rearward rotation of the shaft 52, counter-clockwise in the drawing, ina manner to be described, rotates the cams 50 to permit the lowering ofthe paper table structure 46 for thereby moving the feed rolls 44 awayfrom the platen section 14 to release the paper.

Similar feed rolls 54, earns 60, and cam-carrying shaft 62 are providedfor the right portion.10 of the platen 8. A dog clutch 66 controlled bya handle 68 is arranged to connect the two shafts 52 and 62 so that theyoperate together to engage and release the feed rolls 44 and 54 inunison.

Shaft 62, at its right end, carries a lever 69 connected by a link 70 tothe lower front portion 71 of the manual lever 30. Forward motion of thelever 30, in addition to opening the front feed chute 19, will alsorotate the shaft 62 rearward (counter-clockwise in the drawing) forreleasing the feed rolls 54, for facilitating the insertion of a sheetof paper in position on the right section of the platen 8. If the clutch66 is engaged, the forward motion of the lever 30, as just described,also releases the feed rolls 44 so thatthe motion of the single lever 30opens the machine for insertion of paper on both sections 10 and 14 ofthe platen 8. Although such operation of the shaft 26 by the lever 30for opening the chute 19 also moves the lever 41 and the link 39, thelower end of the link 39 simply slides in the slot 37 and does not causeany motion of the manual lever 32.

A tractor feed 90 is provided for feeding continuous forms, such asinvoices, that have marginal perforations. This mechanism is driven fromthe platen in a known manner by mechanism not shown here.

The mechanism thus far described is known. According to the knownstructure, the shaft 52 was connected to the lever 32 and operatedthereby similarly to the connection of the shaft 62 to lever 30. Withsuch an arrangement, whenever the clutch 66 was engaged, not only didthe two shafts 52 and 62 operate in unison, but the control levers 30and 32 necessarily operated in unison with them. Furthermore, with suchprior construction, even when clutch 66 was disengaged, the closing ofthe front feed chute 19 compelled the engagement of both sets of feedrolls 44 and 54 because the chute 19 could be closed only if both levers30' and 3-2 were in their normal position, shown, and with levers 30 and32 in their normal positions the feed rolls 44 and 54 were necessarilyin firm contact with the platen 8.

In accordance with the present invention, a releasable clutch, orconnection 72, is provided between the lever 32 and the control shaft 52for the feed rolls 44 on the left section 14 of the platen 8. A rocker74 lies alongside the lower end of the manual control lever 32 and isjournalled on the same shaft 33. This rocker 74 is connected by a link75 to a lever 76 on the shaft 52 that controls the feed rolls 44 andpaper table 46. A claw 78, which is a part of a clutch knob 80, but hereshown separate, has two fingers 79 that extend through holes 82 in theplate 74 and into a pair of matching holes 84 in the lever 32, to clutchthe two members 74 and 32 together for operation in unison. When thesetwo members 74 and 32 are connected in this manner, the lever 32controls the feed rolls 44 and paper table 46 just as in the knowndevice, so that with the lever 32 in its normal position, shown, thecams 50 hold the feed rolls 44 in firm engagement with the left platensection 14 and the platen section 14 drives the paper, and so that whenthe lever 32 is pulled forward, clockwise in the drawing, the shaft 52is rotated counter-clockwise and the rolls 44 move away from the platensection 14 to leave the paper loose for manual insertion and removal.

The manual clutch knob 80, including its integral claw 78, is movableboth axially and rotatably on the shaft 33. A spring 86 urges the knob80 to the right so that, for example, the claw 78 is held firmly in theholes 82 and 84 for clutching the two members 74 and 32 together. Theknob 80 may be pulled to the left to disengage the fingers 79 of theclaw 78 from the holes 82, and may then be turned to let the points ofthe fingers 79 of the claw 78 rest in smaller holes 88 where they areheld by the spring 86. In this last position the fingers 79 of the claw78 do not extend through the plate 74 and so do not engage the lever 32or clutch the lever 32 to the rocker 74.

One important result of disengaging the rocker 74 from the lever 32 isthat the feed rolls 44 are not required to be engaged with the platensection 14 when the front feed chute 19 is closed, that is, in operatingposition. It will be recalled that, in the prior construction describedabove, the closing of the front feed chute 19 required that both levers30' and 32 be in their normal positions, shown in the drawing, and thatthese normal po itions of the control levers 30 a d 2. eq ired 4 thatboth sets of feed rolls 44 and 54 be engaged with the platen sections 10and 14.

The present invention adds to the conveniences and ease of using invoiceforms that have perforated edges and that are driven by a separatemechanism engaging those perforations, such as a so-called tractor feed90. It is difficult to synchronize the drive of the paper by the tractorfeed 90 with the line spacing mechanism of the platen 8, and accordingto the present invention, we rely on the tractor feed alone.

For example, a continuous, multicopy invoice form may be tractor fed tothe left section 14 of the platen 8. For operation of the invention inthis manner, the clutch 66 is disengaged so that the two shafts 62 and52 may operate independently. The claw 78 is positioned to connectrocker 74 to the lever 32 which is then pulled forward to disengage thedrive rolls 44 from the platen section 14. With the rolls 44 in thisdisengaged position, the claw 78 is withdrawn to the left to disengagerocker 74 from lever 32 and turned to rest the fingers 79 of the claw 78in the small holes 88. With the machine in this condition the invoiceform on the left section 14 of the platen 8 is not affected by therotation of the platen 8 but rather is fed solely by the tractor feed 90applied to the perforated margins of the form. The right-hand section 10of the platen 8 may carry a wraparound journal sheet and also a ledgersheet that is inserted from the front for the posting of accountsreceivable. The lever 30 may be pulled forward to disengage the feedrolls 54 and open the front feed chute 19 to permit the insertion orremoval of the ledger sheet. Alternatively, the lever 32 at the left endof the carriage may be pulled forward to open the front feed chute 19without affecting either the feed rolls 44 or the feed rolls 54.

When a different kind of work is to be performed that requires the feedrolls 44 to be opened and closed with the lever 32, as in prior devices,the knob 80 is simply rotated to place the fingers 79 of the claw 78 inthe large holes 82 of the rocker 74. A forward motion of the lever 32then brings the holes 84 into alignment with those fingers 79 andpermits the spring 86 to force the claw 78 into engagement with thelever 32 so that the lever 32 is again connected to the feed rolls 44for controlling them.

With this setting the machine may, for example, be used for preparing apayroll. A wrap-around journal sheet may extend the full width of theplaten 8, and the employees earnings-record, or ledger, and also thecheck, may be inserted from the front.

The present invention provides a new construction having an improvedmode of operation, and provides a new and novel mechanism for enablingthe operator 9 of a billing, or accounting, machine to quickly andconveniently change the mode of operation for different kinds of work.It is to be noted that, although a machine with a split platen is shown,the present invention may be used with or without a split platen, andfor many tasks, such as the invoicing operation, described above,eliminates the need for a split platen.

We claim: 1. In a billing machine having a rotatable platen and having:

(a) a feed release lever at each end of the platen, (b) afront-feed-chute carrier biased to closed position and rockable to openposition by movement of either lever, (c) form-holding pressure rollersat a first end of said platen, (d) first means for releasing said firstrollers by the chute-opening movement of a first of said levers, (e)second form-holding pressure rollers at a second end of said platen,

(f) second means for releasing said second rollers by a chute-openingmovement of the second of said levers,

(g) means for releasably holding said second pressure rollers inreleased position,

(h) a releasable connection between said first and second means,connectible for causing the release and 5 to -be controlled by saidplaten and a form on said second part to be controlled independently ofsaid platen.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1917 Hart 197138 10/1933 Hart197-129 9/1957 Christian et a1. l97-128 10 ERNEST T. WRIGHT, JR.,Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

